Last chance for March’s “Lucky Lifesavers” Blood Drive at Kane Community Center this Tuesday
KANE—THERE is a never-ending need for blood donations for emergency transfusions, surgery, treatment of cancer, and other life-threatening conditions. This Tuesday March 26 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. there will be a blood drive at the Kane Area Community Center. The drive is the latest push by the Community Blood Blank to keep hospitals stocked for emergencies.
As an incentive, every donor for the drives in Kane will receive a $15 Citgo gas card that can be redeemed at Country Fair. In March, four donors will be selected each week to win a board filled with scratch off lottery tickets. The region wide program is called Lucky Lifesavers.
Raven Edinger is the Northwest PA mobile drive coordinator for the Erie based blood bank. The Community Blood Bank supplies 17 hospitals in the region and is the sole supplier of blood to the UPMC Kane hospital.
“When you donate to Community Blood Bank, all your blood stays local.” says Edinger. “You could be helping someone that you know.“Edinger is a Kane native and current resident. She started with the blood bank in 2020 as a phlebotomist and took over the mobile blood drive coordinator position this February.
Every 56 days— the time donors must wait before donating again—the drive returns
to the Kane Area Community Center. The next chance after Tuesday at that location will be on May 28 from 2-7 p.m. The evening option will give people who work during the day a chance to give blood. The last blood drive at the Kane Area Community Center was in January and they had 24 donors and received 25 units of life saving blood.
Blood drives are always needed as there is no synthetic alternative for the real thing. Donors can give blood in more ways than one might think and it gets used in many ways. The Community Blood bank separates the donated blood into three parts in their lab, red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.
“Whole blood” is usually given to people who have had massive blood loss from injury, or to people undergoing surgery. Red blood cells are given to people who have blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease or chronic anemia caused by kidney failure or bleeding in the stomach. They are also given to people who have acute blood loss from trauma.
Sometimes babies born very early need a transfusion to increase the number of red blood cells in their bodies. Platelets are most often used to treat cancer. They are also given to patients who have open-heart surgery and organ transplants. Plasma transfusions are used for patients with liver failure, bad infections, and serious burns.
They also have a machine that makes donating more effective. “We bring our ALYX machine which allows us to take double units of red blood cells and plasma.” says Edinger. She added that “Double Reds” typically go to trauma patients and plasma is usually used for hemophilia, immune deficiencies, burns, and genetic lung disease.
The ALYX machine allows a donor to double the impact of their gift of life. ALYX donors only give once every 112 days—16 weeks— instead of the normal 56 days. Requirements for this type of donation are similar to those for a whole blood donation, with a slightly higher requirement for height and weight.
Edinger urges anyone that is eligible to come and donate for the drives. She stressed the importance of keeping the bank stocked so that local hospitals can be supplied when they need it most. “A lot of people don’t realize until someone they know needs blood and they can’t find it.”
Walk-ins are also accepted on the day of the drive. All donors are encouraged to complete a "Quick Pass" available on the website at fourhearts.org on the day of their donation to save time.
To sign up for this Tuesday’s and for future drives, call (814) 596-3395. Visit their facebook page at www. facebook.com/ourdonorssave and their website at fourhearts. org.